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OTMOffice of Technology Management2009 annual report

contentsMessage from Marc Malandro.. . . . . . . . . . . 22009 Year in Review................... 4Engaging Pitt Innovators................12Staff Directory.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Pitt Innovator Profiles:George Stetten...................... 5Linda van Roosmalen................. 7Hideho Okada...................... 9Marco Zenati .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Edward Prochownik.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Mohammed El-Kurdi and Lorenzo Soletti.. . 15ripple rippleeffectseffecA single contactItypically am not given to clichés. However, when I thought about how tocommunicate the impact of the Office of Technology Management (OTM)and the Office of Enterprise Development (OED), Health Sciences, beyondsimply stating numbers, the notion of “ripple effects” really took hold. Theidea that a single relationship or single contact can have lasting and farreachingimpact on the University of Pittsburgh is an idea that embodies theapproach our offices take to innovation development and commercialization.For instance, when then bioengineering graduate student Lorenzo Solettiattended a technology commercialization course hosted by OTM and theOffice of the Provost in 2007, our intentions were straightforward: educationand assistance in transforming research results into commercially viableproducts and businesses. We hoped to motivate him and others into consideringthe process of innovation commercialization, with an understandingthat such endeavors take much time and resources to foster.Two years later, Soletti and former graduate student Mohammed El-Kurdi,supported by their faculty mentors, have established a Pittsburgh-basedstart-up company that is commercializing a novel support technologydeveloped at the University for arteriovenous grafts. Their faculty mentors,whose research endeavors over more than 10 years led to this new technology,remain at the University and continue to explore new innovations andsupport new graduate student innovators.We have featured this and other examples in this annual report in an attemptto illustrate the far-reaching ripple effects of OTM and OED on education;research; faculty, staff, and students; and the local economy. We also havetried to show how a single relationship, over time, can develop into somethingmuch, much bigger.Achieving success as a University office and fostering an entrepreneurialculture of innovation and commercialization depend on a variety of factors,some clearly tangible and others perhaps less so. As this report documents,OTM and its affiliate OED do weigh the tangible outcomes—the numberof invention disclosures submitted annually, the number of licensing dealsexecuted, and total revenue generated as a result of this technologytransfer activity.Less tangible, for instance, might be the impact of OTM’s commercializationfellowship program on both the participating students and the Pitt Innovatorsfor whom they are providing market research and competitive analysis. Orconsider the long-term ramifications of potential partnering relationships

ipple rippletseffectseffectsmarcmalandrodeveloped and nurtured over time by OED’s business development professionals withinindustry. We may not be able to predict with certainty the long-term outcome of our innovationbrainstorming sessions, which bring together groups of researchers from disparatescientific disciplines, but new collaborations do emerge from such interactions that couldresult in fresh ideas and innovations in the future. Our job is to facilitate the process.Indeed, our success requires a creative, persistent, proactive long-term commitment to theinnovation development and commercialization process. It requires us to foster the right environmentand provide a solid foundation on which Pitt Innovators can build their own success.Today, we are engaging more faculty, staff, and students in the commercialization processthan ever before. Enrollment in our educational courses remains at full capacity. Students areleaving Pitt with graduate degrees and innovation commercialization-driven career opportunities.Our staff continues to work diligently with departments and schools, the community,alumni, and industry around the world to facilitate partnerships that lead to sponsoredresearch opportunities, technology licenses, successful faculty recruitment efforts, andnew start-up companies.Such activities have become even more crucial today in strategically building a foundationthat can withstand the serious economic challenges before us. Admittedly, this past yearproved to be a tough economic climate in which to conduct business, and we used theexperience to take stock of what works and what we can do better in managing our manydiverse activities on behalf of the University.The good news is that our long-term strategy has proved to be effective. As a result, globaleconomic adversity did not negatively affect the flow of new ideas from Pitt Innovators thispast year, nor did it dampen their enthusiasm for staying the course in the day-to-day rigorsof their own commercialization endeavors. To those who participated in the process this pastyear, including our Pitt Innovators, work-study students, and interns, as well as those whosupported our efforts with funding, time, and expertise, we are sincerely grateful. Thank you.We look forward to working with you in the coming year.Respectfully,Marc S. MalandroAssociate Vice Chancellor for Technology Management and CommercializationUniversity of Pittsburgh

georgestettenOne word that might bestcharacterize Universityof Pittsburgh innovator GeorgeStetten, MD, PhD, with regard totechnology commercialization ispersistence. After eight distinctproduct prototypes, three NationalInstitutes of Health grants, anothergrant from the National ScienceFoundation, and a potential start-upventure, Stetten has shown thatlong-term commitment to theprocess does eventually offer itsshare of rewards.Stetten, a professor of bioengineering,has devoted much of his lasteight years of research to whathe calls the Sonic Flashlight, anultrasound-based device thatprovides real-time tomographicimages from beneath skin surfaces.Originally a floor-standing devicethat looked like a giant overheadprojector, today’s Sonic Flashlightis handheld and comes with steriledisposable attachments.While more traditional ultrasoundtechnologies project images frominside the body onto a computerscreen, Stetten’s device reflectsthe image directly onto that partof the body, accurately identifying,for example, the location ofa vein or artery in a hand. Whiledeveloping his device, he has had toaddress issues of portability, userneeds, image resolution, sterility,and a host of other obstacles tocommercialization.He also has participated in anumber of Office of TechnologyManagement (OTM)-hosted commercializationactivities, includingtechnology poster showcasesand a presentation before OTM’snew Commercialization AdvisoryCommittee. The committee,composed of successful businessleaders, local technology-basedeconomic development leaders,Pitt alumni, and other advocatesof entrepreneurship, providesconstructive feedback on technologiesand the commercial opportunitiesthat might exist. Through it all,Stetten has continued to persist.“Yes, I’ve had to wait, and I’ve goneon to lots of next things” throughoutthe development process, saysStetten, who also composes andrecords his own folk rock-style musicwhen he’s not in his lab. “But it’s alot more than a patent. It pays formy lab; it’s my reputation. With fourfederal grants, it has been my breadand butter.”The U.S. Patent and Trademark Officeissued a patent on the underlyingtechnology of the Sonic Flashlight in2003. The federal grants, meanwhile,allowed Stetten to develop variousfunctions of the technology. In addition,Stetten says he also has beenable to publish at least 35 academicarticles based on this research anddevelopment effort.Among his latest research projects isdeveloping an application for jugularvein access. He also is working withRoberta Klatzky, a psychology professorat Carnegie Mellon University,to study the behavioral aspects ofuse in the field. He says he oftenconducts research in partnershipwith researchers at Carnegie Mellon.Recently, Stetten and OTM have beenworking to make the Sonic Flashlightthe key factor in a new local start-upcompany, which then would develophis idea even further for widespreadcommercial use. Stetten, though,would remain at the University.“I like the idea, the dream of makingit,” Stetten says of his device and theongoing research efforts that haveled to it. “To a certain extent, it wouldbe nice to see it out there. But thebusiness world is a really differentworld; it has a bottom line.”Still, he adds, “I like my job and likewhat I have here. It would be nice if[the Sonic Flashlight] takes off, but ifnot, I’ll be OK. This is where I live.”

lindavanroosmalenFlip through the pages of Linda van Roosmalen’s personal lab notebookand you’ll find sketch after sketch and schematic after schematic ofwheelchairs, casters, ratcheted restraint systems, and passenger retentiondevices and lots of notes and hasty scribbles—all aimed at capturing whatshe describes as a “slew” of new ideas in wheelchair transportation safety.Van Roosmalen, a visiting assistant professor in the Department ofRehabilitation Sciences and Technology in Pitt’s School of Health andRehabilitation Sciences, brings many of those ideas to life in her lab onPittsburgh’s South Side. There, she and her research team piece togetherand then test wheelchair docking stations, vehicle-mounted retention armsfor public transportation, and countless other innovations.Among her team’s latest innovations is a forward-facing wheelchair containmentand occupant retention system for large accessible-transit vehicles.The system is designed to prevent the chair and passenger from tipping sidewaysor otherwise moving in the event of sudden turns or stops by the vehicle.This technology has been licensed to a company for commercial development.Another recent submission for commercial consideration was an accessibleseat belt system in motor vehicles for people with limited dexterity and armfunction. The system allows individuals to drive independently into a prebuckled,vehicle-mounted seat belt system, without the need to buckle the pelvicand shoulder belts physically.In pursuing her research, van Roosmalen describes herself as more of adesigner than a researcher. “But I need the research to design technologiesthat are safe and functional,” she says. “I do user research. I research people,and I like to study the interaction between products and people.”She attributes some of her design roots to her father, a civil engineer andpart-time artist who designed buildings, prisons, bridges, and other concretestructures in his native Netherlands.“I wanted to do something with colors and shapes, but I also loved solvingproblems,” van Roosmalen says of her youth.She moved to Pittsburgh in 1997 after graduating from Delft University ofTechnology in Delft, the Netherlands, with BS and MS degrees in industrialdesign engineering. She then earned her PhD in rehabilitation science andtechnology at Pitt. She focused her studies on product and system ergonomics,which then evolved into wheeled mobility and transportation safety.Van Roosmalen says that her research philosophy is simple: “I believe wecan design technologies that take human error out of the equation” when itcomes to developing safe technology for use by all. Each term, she teachesthat perspective to groups of bioengineering and rehabilitation science andtechnology students who, as part of their course work, must solve real-worldproblems with their own innovative ideas.“What I like to teach my students is to do useful research and go througha series of structured steps in the design process,” van Roosmalen says.“They need to observe. They need to look at people. Then they need to gofrom functional analysis to innovation.”

2009 year in review4035302520negotiations carried over to fiscal year 2010 for completion. Still, thatbrings 15 the total number of licenses and options for Pitt technologies to26910for the five years ending June 30, 2009.As 5in past years, the Learning Research and Development Center’sInstitute for Learning contributed significantly to the licensing activitywith 0 its professional development materials for elementary and secondaryschool teachers and administrators. The materials are licensed toschool districts across the country. Activity also included licenses oroptions to three start-up companies that were established around Pitttechnologies (see the Start-up Activity section on p. 10 for more details).40353025U.S. Patents Issued3632U.S. Patents Issued12000000 Patenting activity remained robust in fiscal year 2009, as the Universityothercontinued to pursue vigorously the protection of intellectual property10000000 developed by Pitt Innovators. In fiscal year 2009, Pitt filed 105 new legal U.S.patent applications, up from the previous year’s 100. Since 2006, the8000000University has filed 461 U.S. patent applications.equity6000000 Meanwhile, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued licensing 32patents to Pitt in fiscal year 2009, adding to the 36 issued to Pitt in40000002008. That brings the number up to 131 for the five years ending in fiscalyear 2009. Due to a backlog of patent applications at USPTO, the latest2000000awards represent applications that actually were filed by the Universitylargely 0 in 2004, 2005, and 2006.2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Total RevenueTotal revenue, in line with technology licensing activity levels this pastyear, stood at $6.52 million for fiscal year 2009. As part of that total,legal fee reimbursements remained close to 2008 levels, finishing at20152022 21$M12Total Revenue11.8510502005 2006 2007 2008 200910865.677.139.106.52Legal FeeReimbursements4Equity Sales2LicensingRevenue0200520062007200820098 Office of Technology Management 2009 Annual Reportcontinued on page 10

2009 year in review$2.39 million in 2009. Licensing revenue, which made up the remainderof the overall revenue, totaled $4.12 million. Sales of equity from start-upcompanies formed around Pitt technologies totaled $10,476 in 2009.Start-up ActivityOTM and OED, with support from several technology-based start-upbusiness consultants and the recently established CommercializationAdvisory Committee, actively pursued start-up development activitiescentered around Pitt technologies this past fiscal year. The advisorycommittee, made up of successful business and entrepreneurial leaders,including Pitt alumni, and economic development leaders, among others,provides constructive counsel to Pitt Innovators with technologies thathave start-up potential.Those combined efforts led to the establishment of several new start-upcompanies. Among them are the following:Neograft Technologies, Inc.: Then bioengineering graduate studentsLorenzo Soletti and Mohammed El-Kurdi teamed up with David Vorp, aprofessor of surgery and bioengineering, along with William Wagner, aprofessor of surgery, to develop a new device that provides temporarystructural support to veins that are being used for arterial vein grafts(see the related profile of El-Kurdi and Soletti on p. 15 in this report).The students, postgraduation, left the University early in 2009 to startNeograft Technologies around the biodegradable polymer-based technology,which the company licensed from the University. They establishedtheir offices and an assembly lab in an office building in the Oaklandneighborhood of Pittsburgh. They also hired an experienced chiefexecutive officer to run the company.Venture Manufacturing Group, Inc.: This California-based productdevelopment company recently established a new start-up venture inthe Pittsburgh region with the intent to develop a cost-effective workingprototype of bioengineering professor George Stetten’s handheld SonicFlashlight ultrasound imaging system (see the related profile of Stettenon p. 3 in this report). The new venture then plans to take the system topotential customers to evaluate market interest in the medical device.Kairos Instruments, LLC: This venture, based in the University ofPittsburgh Applied Research Center outside Pittsburgh, has developedlab instruments for live cell imaging. The instrumentation systems arebased on live cell incubation and monitoring technologies developed bya research team led by Joel Greenberger, professor and chair of UPMC’sDepartment of Radiation Oncology. His research team also included twoCarnegie Mellon University professors.Overall, the year proved to be productive for technology commercializationat Pitt, particularly on the front end of the process. Education,outreach, and our focus on better service continued to result in newinnovations and greater participation in commercialization. The economicpause, meanwhile, allowed our combined staffs to take stock ofwhat works and what needs to improve to push those innovations successfullythrough the process and into the hands of potential licensees.And it allowed us to lay the groundwork more effectivelyfor guiding that success.10 Office of Technology Management 2009 Annual Report

marcozenatiFor Marco Zenati, a tenured professorof surgery at the University of PittsburghSchool of Medicine, a breakthrough beginswith a practical vision.“I look for a problem,” Zenati says, “beforeI look for new methods and applicationsthat solve it. I believe translational medicalresearch must be bedside to bench tobedside. The clinical vision is based on whatwe experience at the bedside—you identify amedical need; seek collaboration to developa solution; then bring it back to the bedside,where it benefits the patient.”Leveraging existing technology for new useshas led Zenati, who also is director of theMinimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery Programat the Mark Ravitch/Leon C. Hirsch Centerfor Minimally Invasive Surgery at Pitt, down apath that could make surgery less traumaticand more successful for millions of patients.Inspired by robotic devices developed atCarnegie Mellon University’s RoboticsInstitute, Zenati worked with Carnegie Mellonresearchers to develop a versatile roboticsurgical probe, now called the ArticulatedRobotic MedProbe (ARM), and adapt it to avariety of surgical uses.The tele-operated cardioARM, for example, iscontrolled with a joystick, enabling epicardialprocedures from a subxiphoid single pointof access on the body, compared to currentdevices that require multiple entry points.Highly articulated and flexible, the cardioARMreadily assumes the shape of its surroundingsas it moves through the body. It also remembersprevious configurations as it movesback and forth, can navigate with far greaterprecision along nonlinear paths compared toconventional instruments, and provides theoperator with nonlinear visibility. A channelwithin the device accommodates tools toperform various procedures.By its very nature, the cardioARM promisesa number of benefits for cardiac surgerypatients, including reduced bleeding andtrauma to tissue, less postoperative discomfort,faster patient recovery, and significantlylower risks compared to current proceduresand equipment. The device also can beconstructed of plastic and other low-costmaterials, making it disposable.Like much leading-edge medical research,Zenati says, collaboration was a key todeveloping the ARM. He credits a long listof colleagues and supporters—the pronoun“we” peppers his speech whenever hediscusses his research—including CarnegieMellon’s Robotics Institute and Pitt’s Office ofTechnology Management (OTM). OTM helpedZenati to navigate the licensing process andobtain outside funding to form Cardiorobotics,Inc., the local company that is taking thecardioARM into clinical trials and, ultimately,clinical use.“The interinstitutional agreement betweenPitt and Carnegie Mellon for commercializingresearch streamlined a great deal of thedecision making,” says Zenati, who alsochairs the Cardiorobotics Scientific AdvisoryBoard. “OTM was extremely helpful, boththrough its encouragement and with advicethat helped us take the first steps towardcommercialization.”The cardioARM will undergo its first humantrial this fall in Prague, Czech Republic, bya team of interventional electrophysiologistsheaded by Vivek Reddy, an associate professorat the University of Miami. The companyalso recently hired a full-time chief executiveofficer and raised a second round of fundingfrom outside investors. In addition to thecardioARM, the company now is developingARMs for laparoscopic, endoscopic, andgastrointestinal applications.“What we’re doing is evolutionary, not revolutionary,”Zenati says. “Everyone believedthat robotics has a role in surgery, but we hadto think bigger. So we went back to our owndefinition of minimally invasive surgery—providing the desired intervention with theleast change to the body. Single-port roboticsurgery lets you enter at a single point andreach around complex structures to navigateanywhere in the body, giving us that result.“To me,” Zenati adds, “that’s the definitionof translational research: find new, practicalapplications for existing technology beyondthe inventor’s original purpose.”

engaging pitt innovatorsEngaging Pitt InnovatorsBehind every new innovation, behind every technology license andstart-up company coming out of the University of Pittsburgh, aregroups of Pitt faculty, staff, and students—Pitt Innovators—whoare changing the world with their imagination, ingenuity, and resultinginnovations. The Office of Technology Management (OTM) and Officeof Enterprise Development (OED), Health Sciences worked diligently infiscal year 2009 to educate and engage those innovators in the rigorousprocess we call technology commercialization. Our job has been tofacilitate success in that process all along the way and to make anoverall impact on the innovators, on Pitt research and education, andon the community.Taking the longer-term view, OTM and OED this past year spent considerabletime and resources working aggressively with Pitt Innovators tofacilitate interactions between them and others, including a diversity ofacademic departments, potential industry partners, investors, entrepreneurs,and the technology-based economic development community.Our goal is to foster meaningful relationships that support Pitt Innovatorsin their research and commercialization efforts—relationships whoseimpacts include new research collaborations; new ideas; new sponsoredresearch partnership opportunities; educational and career opportunitiesfor Pitt students; and, of course, new licenses and start-up companies.In fact, to better support this goal and operate more efficiently within thetechnology commercialization realm, this past June, OED relocated fromPitt’s Bellefield Hall to offices in the Gardner Steel Conference Center,where OTM is based.idea that, in time, these interactions, relationships, and opportunities willpay broad dividends on many levels, including effecting change in theentrepreneurial culture at Pitt.We also should note that many of these initiatives received financialsupport from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and EconomicDevelopment’s Keystone Innovation Grants (KIG) program. The commonwealth,recognizing the value of these programs in fosteringinnovation commercialization and entrepreneurship in the region,awarded OTM three successive grants to develop and support theseinnovative programs.Consider the following activities, which we believe contribute significantlyto the long-term, far-reaching success of both technologycommercialization and the overall academic experience at Pitt.Outreach/EducationTechnology commercialization presentations: We plant the seeds forthis cultural shift even before innovation commercialization begins. Thispast year, OTM and OED were invited to reach out to at least 15 differentacademic departments across campus with the comprehensive PittInnovator Primer Series presentation campaign. The program’s goal wasto introduce faculty, staff, and students to our offices; to the conceptof technology commercialization at Pitt; and to some of the informationneeded, such as intellectual property issues, to begin the process effectively.We also hoped to motivate the more than 300 potential innovatorswho attended the program and received our materials.continued on page 14Some of our combined efforts to educate and facilitate interactions canbe measured tangibly according to our commercialization performancenumbers. Others require a longer-term perspective that commits to the12 Office of Technology Management 2009 Annual Report

edwardprochownikWinston Churchill oncedescribed former U.S.Secretary of State John FosterDulles as “a bull who carriesaround his own china shop.”Edward Prochownik, the Paul C.Gaffney Professor of OncologyResearch and a professor ofpediatrics, microbiology, andmolecular genetics at the Universityof Pittsburgh, is fond of using thisquote to describe the ways thatsome cancer-causing proteins canaffect a cell’s genome. Becausesuch proteins cause widespreadgenetic instability, these cells aremore likely to develop mutationsthat lead to cancer and that allowthem to evolve even further,becoming metastatic or resistantto therapy.Identifying and inhibiting theactions of cancer-causing genessuch as these is the focus ofProchownik’s research.Working with a multidisciplinaryteam at Pitt andGeorgetown University,Prochownik has targetedtwo oncoproteins,known as Myc andMax, that play a pivotalrole in cell mutationand proliferation.Linked together, Mycand Max regulatehundreds of genesin our bodies, including manythat promote cancer.“Myc-Max binds to DNA and turnsgenes on and off, including thosethat control cell proliferation,”Prochownik says. However, Mycalso is required for normal cellreproduction. “Turning off” Mycrandomly or otherwise inhibitingit could have devastating effectson normal cells. Prochownik’swork takes advantage of the factthat normal cells tend to expressMyc only when they are dividing,which occurs infrequently, whereascancer cells express high levels ofMyc most of the time.Several years ago, Prochownik’sresearch team identified severalsmall molecules that inhibited theaction of Myc-Max. Until recently,however, they didn’t know howthese molecules were working.Using techniques such as nuclearmagnetic resonance (NMR)spectroscopy and fluorescencepolarization, Prochownik andhis team first showed that thesemolecules bound only to the Mycmonomer and distorted it in sucha way as to prevent its associationwith Max.Then, they mapped the sites wherethose molecules bind and showedthat only three sites bound everyinhibitor and all subsequent structuralvariants. This allowed themto obtain NMR-based structures ofthe complexes, which then allowedthem to design next-generationinhibitors more rationally.One of the areas that really excitesthe members of the research team,Prochownik says, is their findingthat, by chemically linking two ofthe small molecules that bind todifferent sites on Myc, they havebeen able to increase their potencyas much as 5,000-fold.“It took us more than a year to eventhink of doing this, says Prochownik.“We were very lucky.”Prochownik notes that cancer isnot the only disease defined byexcessive cell proliferation and highMyc levels. Others include diabeticretinopathy, macular degeneration,and atherosclerosis. So targetingMyc with these small druglikecompounds might be a way to treatthese diseases as well.Prochownik and his collaboratorshave identified and tested a numberof potential Myc-Max inhibitors andmodeled their behavior. The nextsteps include testing in animals anddeveloping precise delivery systems.The Office of TechnologyManagement (OTM) is workingwith Prochownik’s team to identifyand secure a partnership withoutside sources that can take itsdiscoveries to the next phases ofclinical trials and move closer toeventual clinical use.“We’re an academic laboratory,”Prochownik notes. “We’re notpositioned to develop drugs. But weare very interested in finding betterdesigneddrugs and collaborating toimprove their delivery in the body.OTM helps to make that collaborationpossible.”Prochownik makes it clear that heworks as part of a team, naminga long list of colleagues, partners,and others who contribute to theongoing research.Says Prochownik: “You can’tsay enough about the benefitsof collaborating with people whohave the complementary expertisethis requires.”

engaging pitt innovatorsAcademic Entrepreneurship: OTM, in conjunction with the Office of theProvost, continued to host its educational course for faculty, staff, andstudents, titled Academic Entrepreneurship: The Business of InnovationCommercialization, in fall 2008. Last year, OTM revamped its eight-weekcourse, which was administered by the Center for Executive Educationat the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, to include a morehands-on approach that would allow participants to apply what theylearned to their own commercialization efforts. The improved courseattracted 26 participants from across campus. That brings the totalnumber of faculty, staff, and student participants to more than 150 sincethe course’s inception in 2003.From Benchtop to Bedside: In spring 2009, OED once again hosted its10-week course, titled From Benchtop to Bedside: What Every ScientistNeeds to Know. Thirty-four physicians and scientists graduated fromthe program—the course’s largest attendance ever, adding to the 58who had taken the course in the previous two years alone. As partof the course, Katz MBA students attended the course for credit andworked with faculty attendees to develop commercialization strategiesand provide market research and competitive analysis. In addition, OEDdeveloped and ran a new five-part short course in late spring 2009 withtwo modules, Intellectual Property and Regulatory/Reimbursement.Limbach Lecture Series: Six lectures over the course of fiscal year2009, hosted by OED, brought together more than 140 Pitt facultymembers, local entrepreneurs, investors, economic development leaders,and industry representatives to explore the practical realities of technologycommercialization and entrepreneurship.Commercialization Fellowship Program: In fiscal year 2009, OTMand OED continued their successful educational partnership with selectundergraduate and graduate business students. The students, who alsoattended OTM and OED’s annual educational courses, worked directlywith licensing managers and business development professionals toprovide market research, competitive analysis, intellectual propertymanagement support, and commercialization strategy development onbehalf of Pitt Innovators. In fact, OED established a more formal partnershipwith the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business to matchPitt Innovators and their innovations with teams of students who thendeveloped such strategies. Teams worked with seven Pitt Innovatorson joint projects.International visitors: Working in partnership with GlobalPittsburgh,OTM played host throughout the year to delegations of educators andcommunity leaders from the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia, China, andnations in South America, among other countries, all of whom expressedan interest specifically in Pitt’s aggressive technology commercializationand entrepreneurial education activities.Commercialization Coaching Cards: OTM and OED distributed morethan 1,000 of the business card-sized cards to Pitt Innovators acrosscampus in fiscal year 2009. The cards feature 10 tips to remember whenpromoting one’s innovation to outside interests, particularly at conferencesand other events. We developed the cards as a teaching tool forthose who have entered the commercialization process at Pitt.Facilitated InteractionBuilding industry relationships: Together, OTM and OED conductedmore than 100 meetings this past fiscal year with representatives fromlarge pharmaceutical companies, investors, and other drivers of technology-basedentrepreneurship. In some cases, staff members aggressivelypursued such meetings at a number of large industry conferences,including the BIO International Convention, BIO-Windhover, Biotech2008, BioPharm America, the Association of University TechnologyManagers (AUTM) annual conference, and other international industryevents. In addition, OED staffers visited several companies, bringing withcontinued on page 1614 Office of Technology Management 2009 Annual Report

These days, Mohammed El-Kurdiand Lorenzo Soletti are gettingtheir first taste of the realities ofthe entrepreneurial life. They’rescrambling to furnish their newoffices in an Oakland office building;equip their small assembly lab;order parts; hire new employees;and generally map out the futureof their new start-up, NeograftTechnologies, Inc.Such challenges seem almosta world away from the nearbybioengineering labs at the Universityof Pittsburgh, where both scientistsdeveloped research projects thatwould lead not only to PhDs inbioengineering but also to innovationsthat would become the basisfor their new company.“There’s a very steep learningcurve,” El-Kurdi, who has assumedthe role of director of scienceand engineering at the fledglingcompany, says of the jump fromacademic research to business. “Ialways wanted to create a company,but I needed to learn more. Trainingmyself to act more like a businessmanversus a scientist isn’t easy.”El-Kurdi and Soletti began theircommercialization journey asdoctoral students in the BridgesidePoint-based University labs ofDavid Vorp, a professor of surgeryand bioengineering, and WilliamWagner, also a professor of surgery.The professors and their teams hadbeen doing research on arterialvein grafting for a number of yearsalready when the two studentsapproached them looking forprojects from which to developtheir dissertations.Eventually, the research teamdeveloped a biodegradable polymerbasedwrap for arterial veins thatprovides temporary structure andsupport in vein grafting procedures.“It’s like a girdle for a vein,” saysSoletti, a native of Rome, Italy, whonow serves as director of productdevelopment at Neograft.Moreover, they developed both atechnique and a machine that useselectrospinning to wrap the veineffectively prior to the graftingprocedure. Neograft plans todevelop further both the wrap andthe machine delivering it, ultimatelytargeting patients and surgicalcenters, respectively.“Our goal was to add on to Dr.Vorp’s and Dr. Wagner’s researchin mechanically training veins andelectrospinning,” Soletti says ofhis mentors’ long-time researchendeavors. Adds El-Kurdi: “Wejust put A and B together to controlthe mechanical environment ofvein grafting.”But, as Vorp also suggests,“The idea went through manypermutations.”Helping El-Kurdi and Soletti along intheir commercialization efforts wasthe fact that both former studentsexpressed an early interest intheir entrepreneurial aspirations.To bridge the gap between theirscientific studies and their evolvingbusiness interests, both immersedthemselves in entrepreneurialeducation opportunities at Pitt.Both, for instance, attended theOffice of Enterprise Development’s10-week course, From Benchtop toBedside: What Every Scientist Needsto Know. Soletti also attended theOffice of Technology Management’seight-week course, AcademicEntrepreneurship: The Businessof Innovation Commercialization,which is cohosted by the Office ofthe Provost.Apparently, the lessons they learnedpaid off. Both note that their firstpresentation to pitch their idea topotential outside partners included“15 slides about the science”and very little about the valueproposition. Eventually, they refined itto include “only one slide” about thescience.“Basically, we realized our initiallimitations” in the entrepreneurialrealm, El-Kurdi says.That also prompted the company’scofounders to “find a leader with aRolodex,” says Soletti. Thus, theyrecruited an experienced chief executiveofficer to run the company andlead its fundraising efforts.Vorp says he is happy to see hisformer students commercialize theresearch group’s innovation and builda career opportunity for themselvesand others.“This is a very translational environment,and I try to instill in mystudents the idea that they shouldseek out opportunities,” says Vorp.“But not every student has an interest.This is exciting, though. We feellike we’ve got a winner.”mohammedel-kurdilorenzosoletti

engaging pitt innovatorsthem not only technology licensing opportunities but also opportunitiesfor potential research collaborations and other sponsored researchpartnerships. Pitt Innovators joined OED on several of those trips. Amongthe roster of companies introduced to Pitt’s research and commercializationendeavors in fiscal year 2009 were Johnson & Johnson; Bayer AG;PGxHealth; Pfizer Inc; Centocor, Inc.; GlaxoSmithKline plc; Sanofi-AventisU.S. LLC; BD; Baxter International Inc; Vertex Pharmaceuticals; Roche;Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; Teva Pharmaceuticals USA;Novo Nordisk A/S; Novartis AG; Eli Lilly and Company; and Merck & Co.,Inc. This past year, such discussions led to numerous material transferagreements, corporate gifts, licensing discussions, and new sponsoredresearch partnerships.Science2008 showcase: This annual campus event, held in October2008 and hosted in part by OED, showcased posters of 22 Pitt technologiesavailable for licensing. More than 130 people attended the reception,including local business leaders and investor group representatives.Prior to the event, OED paired the 22 Pitt Innovators with business-savvymentors from the local entrepreneurial and investment communities in aneffort to prepare effective value propositions and “elevator” pitches. Theshowcase was part of the University’s annual Science conference.i-Lab Innovation Brainstorming Workshops: This past spring, withfinancial support from Pennsylvania’s KIG program, OTM and OEDconducted innovation application brainstorming sessions with two PittInnovators and select groups of creative, imaginative peers from bothinside and outside the University. During the three-hour sessions, whichwere professionally facilitated, participants explored dozens of newapplications for two different innovations that emerged from researchin the microbiology and molecular genetics and electrical and computerengineering departments. Several innovation brainstorming sessions areplanned for fiscal year 2010 as well.Innovator “speed dating”: OED carried its tightly structured speed datingconcept into 2009 with a March program between nearly two dozenprescreened faculty members and 11 local partnering organizations,including Novitas Capital, Corridor Venture Partners, Birchmere Ventures,BlueTree Capital, the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse (PLSG), andInnovation Works (IW), as well as successful local life sciences entrepreneurs.The program has since led to additional collaboration discussionsamong some participants.Many of OTM and OED’s activities are designedto encourage creative interactions among PittInnovators, industry, local investors, economicdevelopment groups, and entrepreneurs.From left to right: an i-Lab InnovationBrainstorming Workshop, Science2008showcase poster reception, and anInnovator “speed dating” session16 Office of Technology Management 2009 Annual Report

Funding facilitation: OTM and OED continued to work closely with PittInnovators in fiscal year 2009 to identify commercialization funding andother internal and external resources needed to move their innovationscloser to the commercial market. OED, for instance, maintains expertisein Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small BusinessTechnology Transfer (STTR) funding and therefore could assist innovatorsin applying for such federal grants. The efforts last year resultedin numerous proposals and at least one award in which a Pitt researchendeavor will receive funding via a subcontract with an academicdepartment. OTM and OED likewise assisted with facilitating interactionsbetween Pitt Innovators and the state-funded Pittsburgh Life SciencesGreenhouse and Innovation Works.Facilitation of other resources: OTM and OED employed the use ofseveral business consultants, as well as teams of students from theJoseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, to develop comprehensivecommercialization strategies for specific technologies. At least one ofthose efforts already has resulted in a start-up company.Celebration of Innovation: As in the previous three years, OTM and theOffice of the Provost began the fiscal year with a celebration recognizingPitt Innovators and their willingness to participate in the commercializationprocess in the previous year. More than 50 innovators whose technologieswere licensed to industry or start-up companies in 2008 were presentedwith Pitt Innovator Awards at the ceremony. All told, the event drew morethan 150 attendees from across academic disciplines.Facilitating such collaborative interactions, we believe, lies at the coreof what it takes for OTM and OED to manage successfully the technologycommercialization endeavor at the University. As we bring morepeople from diverse disciplines and diverse outside groups togetherfor meaningful dialogue and true partnering opportunities, we expectthe impact to be felt at every level across campus, benefiting not justtechnology transfer but also Pitt’s research, education, and communityservice missions.We do expect to continue building on that momentum as we enhance ourcommercialization initiatives and explore new opportunities for our PittInnovators and their innovations in fiscal year 2010. In the meantime, wewill continue to trumpet the successes of Pitt Innovators from across thecampus to the community, to industry, and to the world as they work tochange the world with their imagination, ingenuity, and innovation.

university of pittsburghOffice of Technology ManagementOffice of EnterpriseDevelopment, Health Sciences412-648-2206www.otm.pitt.edu412-624-3160www.oed.pitt.eduDaniel BatesJessica Lindsay-GreenLisa SpanoMichele HonkoStrategic Relations Manager412-624-4474Intellectual Property andLicensing Associate412-648-2225Technology Licensing Assistant412-648-2206Marketing Associate412-624-3152Michelle BoodenTechnology Licensing Manager,Life Sciences412-648-2220Marc MalandroAssociate Vice Chancellor forTechnology Management andCommercialization412-624-8787Emily StayshichAccountant412-648-2226Paul PetrovichAssistant Director, TechnologyCommercialization412-624-3138Brian CoppleTechnology Licensing Manager,Physical Sciences412-648-2208Kelly MertzFinancial Analysis Manager412-383-7139Harold SwiftTechnology Licensing Manager,Physical Sciences412-648-2236Amy PhillipsBusiness Development Associate412-624-3150Carla CrawfordExecutive Assistant to theAssociate Vice Chancellor forTechnology Management andCommercialization412-383-7665Alexander DucruetChiara OrsiniAssociate Director, IntellectualProperty412-648-3220Martania PennStacey ThomasAccountant412-648-2241Maria VanegasAndrew RemesAssistant Director, BusinessDevelopment412-624-3134Karen ZellarsTechnology Licensing Manager,Life Sciences412-648-2219Intellectual Property Assistant412-648-2201Technology Licensing Associate,Life Sciences412-648-4004Administrative and ProgramCoordinator412-624-3160Sandy LatiniBusiness Manager412-383-7664Susan RudzkiGovernment ComplianceAdministrator412-648-2203Carolyn WeberTechnology Marketing Manager412-383-7140

The University of Pittsburgh is an affirmative action, equal opportunity institution.Published in cooperation with the Department of University Marketing Communications. UMC69515-0909The 2009 OTM annual reportis dedicated to our PittInnovators, whose imagination,ingenuity, and innovation arechanging the world.

Office of Technology Management200 Gardner Steel Conference CenterThackeray and O’Hara StreetsPittsburgh, PA 15260www.otm.pitt.eduOffice of Enterprise Development101 Gardner Steel Conference CenterThackeray and O’Hara StreetsPittsburgh, PA 15260www.oed.pitt.edu